X. Opera Plots
Indexes
Summaries of the story lines are given in many of the sources already cited in Chap-
ter II. The works that follow will widen the perspective. To sort out the great mass of
opera plot books, three indexes are highly useful:
- Studwell, William E., and David A. Hamilton. Opera Plot Index: A Guide to
Locating Plots and Descriptions of Operas, Operettas, and Other Works of
the Musical Theater, and Associated Material. Garland Reference Library of
the Humanities, 1,099. New York: Garland, 1990. xxi, 466p. ISBN 0-8240-
4621-8. ML128 .O4 S8.
A valuable guide to locations of plots and other information on 2,900 stage
works from all Western nations of all periods. The locations are in about 200
books in several languages. Since there are so many repeats of popular operas,
a useful coding system is applied to show which sources have certain features
(musical examples, illustrations, historical information, analysis). Works are
listed by their original language, with cross-references from translated titles.
The composer/title index is useful in itself for a quick look at the works that
have represented, for the plot writers, the standard repertoire. - Drone, Jeanette Marie. Musical Theater Synopses: An Index.Lanham, Md.:
Scarecrow, 1998. 352p. ISBN 0-8198-3489-8. ML128 .O4 D76 Suppl.
First edition, as Index to Opera, Operetta and Musical Comedy Synopses in
Collections and Periodicals,1978. Works listed in the 1978 edition are
included in the new edition, bringing the total number of titles covered to more
than 11,000 by more than 4,000 composers; this is the most comprehensive of
plot indexes. Sources indexed include 352 books, issues of 62 periodicals, and
14 websites; all of them are in English only. Title and composer indexes. - Rieck, Waldemar. Opera Plots. New York: New York Public Library, 1927.
102p. ML128 .O4 R4.
The oldest of the indexes, still useful for citations to non-English sources and
early plot collections not included in Studwell or Drone. Covers about 200